Patty Weaver and Julie Hartness parasail over Lake of the Ozarks on July 28, 2012.

Patty Weaver and Julie Hartness are dipped into Lake of the Ozarks on July 28, 2012

Patty Weaver and Julie Hartness parasail over Lake of the Ozarks on July 28, 2012.

I wanted to title this post “Girls Gone Wild” but it is more of a story about four people who ventured to Lake of the Ozarks to beat the summer heat that has been hammering the Midwest.

Recently, Patty and I joined Dan and Julie Hartness, our friends from church, for a weekend of go kart racing, parasailing, miniature golf, shopping, food and fun, at Osage Beach, Missouri.

We started with lunch at On the Rise Bakery and Woodfired Bistro. Afterwards, we satisfied our need for speed around the race track at Le Mans Karts. (Dan won.) Then, we all headed out on Lake of the Ozarks so Patty and Julie could go parasailing together at Paradise Parasail. When we returned to dry land, we stopped by Sugar Creek Miniature Golf to play a challenging 18-hole course. (I won.) As evening approached, we visited the Osage Beach Premium Outlets to shop at some of their stores. (Patty and Julie won.) Finally, we finished with an Italian dinner at Li’l Rizzo’s.

The next morning, we returned to On the Rise for brunch before driving the 3 1/2 hours home. Dan and I talked most of the trip while Patty and Julie took a well-deserved nap in the backseat.